I Crimes and Misdemeanours ( 15) (Woody Allen. US. 1989) Martin Landau. Anjelica Huston. Woody Allen. Alan Alda. l()~l mins. Two storiesare interwoven in this accomplished Allen offering which effortlessly blends the Big Questions side of his art with the one-line wit we've taken for granted from him. In the first strand. opthalmologist Martin Landau has a hit man bump offhis unsettled mistress lest she alert his wife of their affair. while the second thread has worthy documentary filmmaker Allen clashing with smug media tycoon Alda. The two narratives work towards a wise affirmation of life‘s impenetrable moral complexities. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: Dominion. ()deon.

I Dance As Metaphor. Body As Instrument

( 18) This compilation ofwomen‘s filmmaking. which explores the sensuality of movement through its examination of sexual identity. is part of l lERTAKE. Glasgow‘s first international women‘s film festival. The programme includes material by Shirley Clarke. the American independent also known for her work in jazz film. as well as pieces by European directors. Claudia Schillinger ( Between) and Clara Van (iool (Reservaat). Glasgow: (ii-T.

I Days Of Heaven ( PG) (Terence Malick. US. 1978) Richard (iere. Sam Shepard. Brooke Adams. 9-1 mins. Malick is one of the great wayward talents ofthe contemporary American cinema (Badlands is his only other feature) and this is an exquisite triangular love story set against the wheat farming Midwest at the turn of the century. You can almost feel the sweat of labour and smell the soil . such is the power of undoubtedly majestic film-making. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

Mercedes Ruehl. 92 mins. There's an old saying in Hollywood that when a star has to resort to chasing chickens in a supermarket ad, you know his days as a name above the title are numbered. Especially if he hasn’t had a big hit in quite a while (rememberArthur?), if the sequel to his big hit has gone down the tubes (rememberAnhur27), and he's starring in frantically wacky comedies that barely raise a grimace (cue Crazy People). The next stage on the downward path is when he‘s the one who's dressing up as a chicken and some almost has-been gets to chase him around, but thankfully it hasn’t come to that yet.

What it has come to is a desperately zany take on the advertising industry, wherein our Dud stars as campaign exec Emory Leeson, a man cracking under the strain and who finally commits the unpardonable no-no of telling the truth in his latest set of layouts, which somehow manage to find their way into print. Without further adieu, he is of course carted off to an insane asylum (makes sense, doesn’t it?), at which pointthe film is not beyond salvation. I may even have

laughed at one point.

No, where it all goes very, very wrong is when we get to the mental institution and meet the inmates. As quick as you can point out that it’s all in rather questionable taste, even for a Dudley Moore movie, our hero reacts to the news that his so-called ‘truthful' ads have captured the public imagination by setting his fellow unfortunates to work on a weird and wonderful array of similar campaigns. And we get the love interest bit with La Hannah, who tries for lovable kookiness but comes across as a queasy simpleton. Dear oh dear.

Making mental illness work for comic purposes is tricky at the best of times. but the jokes in Crazy People just die on the spot. A modicum of enjoyable spoofery at the expense of the admen counts for very little when you spend the second half of the movie shifting in yourseat. It might soon be time to check out that made-to-measure chicken outfit, Dud old boy. (Trevor Johnston)

Tow ne's dialogue strains to add significance to the events. but while everyone tries to convince themselves that this is something more than an auto-racing flick. that's jtlst what it is. A very well ptlt together stock-car movie. if that‘sw hat you want to see. (ilasgow : Cannon Sauchiehall Street. lidinburgh: l.'('l, Strathclyde: ['Cl Clydebank. L'Cl East Kilbride.

I Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid ( l’( i ) (Carl Reiner. LS. 1982) Steve Martin. Rachel Ward and a cast of revived luminaries. 87 mins. Film nmrspool has private eye Martin involved with femmefumle Ward and fiendish Nazi scientist Reiner. Much of the humour stems from the intercutting w ilh actual l5orties mos res in a device now copied by the adverts for a certain lager, lzdinburgh: Cameo.

with original primary colours intact and engagingly misshapen crew of rubberized villains faithfully preserved. Amidst a sea ofperiod kitsch backdrops screaming irony. the well-worn drama oflaw enforcement is played out by a cast of cardboard cliches who remain just that. Madonna’s brash floozy and Pacino's hammy megalomania enliven things from time to time. but the material remains so fossilised it's hard for all concerned to work up much of a head ofsteam. Full marks for all the trappings though. (ilasgow: ()deon. Strathclyde: WM R Film Centre.

I Die Hard 2: Die Harderl 18) ( Renny llarlin. LS. 1990) Bruce Willis. Bonnie Bedelia. William Atherton. 122 mins. Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is spending Christmas in \N'ashington. but as he waits 'it the airport for his wife'sfligllt to get in the whole place is taken overby terrorists. Needless to say action man ' Bruce jumps in there to sort them out. but he‘d better be quick because the baddies

are refusing to let his missus‘s plane land. Usual patterned sequel that‘s like the original. only more so with much moolah spent on the explosions and superhero Willis battling a screenplay of towering mediocrity. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: ()deon. UCI. ‘ Central: Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: Kelburne. ()deon Ayr. ()deon llamilton. UCI Clydebank. L'Cl East Kilbride. I Dreams ( 15) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1990) Akira Terao. Martin Scorsese. 121) mins. After some 27 features dating back to the mid 1940s. this is supposedly Kurosawa's most personal film to date and makes an interesting hybrid ofJapanese culture and the latest in American film-making technology. Composed of eight separate dream sequences torn from the imagination of the old maestro himself. each one with its ow n individual : narrative and moral. the end result betrays? the occasional spot of self-indulgence bui remains a visually stunning and emotionally uplifting experience. Look 1 out for Scorsese as Van (iogh in a i breathtaking sequence that has the artist l moving through the worlds created by his i own paintings. Central: MacRobert Arts l

Centre. I Drugstore Cowboy ( 18) (Gus Van Sanl Jr.. US. I989) Matt Dillon. Kelly Lynch. James Remar. William S. Burroughs. lllll = mins. A gangofdope fiends blithely ripoff ? a series ofdrugstores headed by our Matt who gives his best performance to date in Gus Van Sant‘s recreation of I971 Oregon. Complete with its halucinatory visions of flying cows the film created a stir stateside for presenting the theft and use of narcotics as an alluring pastime. It marks a new and more creditable milestone in Hollywood drugmovies. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre. I A Dry While Season ( 15) (Iiuzhan Paley. US. 1989) Donald Sutherland. Janet Suzman. Jurgcn Prochnow. Marlon Brando. 107 mins. Andre Brink'snovel about the white South African conscience brought Marlon back to the screen for his first cameo in years. As Ben Du'I'oit (Sutherland)investigatesthe deathofhis ! black gardener's son he becomes 3 increasingly aware ofthe true nature of the system that he is living in. Though ; criticised for simplifying the novel. * notably by balloon-man Brando. the film I both engages the viewer and enrages their : sympathies. (ilasgow: (ii-T. I Early Scottish Women's Films (PU ) As part of l lliR'lAKli. (ilasgow'sflrst International Women‘s l‘ilm Festival. Women In l’rofile have compiled two programmes bringing together early work by Scottish women filmmakers. Introduced by the Scottish l‘ilm Archiv e's Janet McBain. both selections include short and educational films. focusing in particular on Jenny ( iilbertson's worklor the often accomplished (il’O liilm l'rut. Glasgow: (il-‘I'. I Eddie Murphy Raw ( l8 1 ( Robert 'I‘ownsend. l 'S. 1987‘) liddie Murphy. 911 mins. Competently directed record of Murphy live. recorded at two New York concerts in which he struts his mainly four-letter stand-up act. l’ine. ifyou're a fan. Strathclyde: l'Cl liast Kilbride. I The Exorcist ( lls’) (William liriedkin. L'S. ; 1973) Linda Blair. lillen Burstyn. Max l \'on Sydow. [11. mins. liarnest priest \‘on